Reel Repair by Alan Tani

When I was young, about 30 years ago, I owned 5 ABU reels. We moved away from the coast then and I sold my reels after 10 years of no fishing. After a couple more years we moved back to the coast and I didm`t like the later ABUs much and began buying other brands.
Now I have a hunger for older ABUs again and have a 9000c, about 1985 vintage in transit which I bought last week.
I also bought this 10000c about a week ago from a second hand shop. Couldn`t resist the price.


This one is a 1969 model made in 1973. It is in beautiful condition inside and out. Not bad for a 41 year old reel.

WoW     Gorgeous!

2 speed automatic??  ...just so I know if I ever see one... how much for one of those? 
I'd scoop it up too!

Hi Eric
Got this one for $50.00 AUD. Funny part was ...this shop is usually way over priced. Someone stuffed up.

Nice score, I've been tempted by those 2 speeds a few times but never bought one, be interested to see what you think when you use it.

 Nice reel Basto, It appears that one doesn't come with a levelwind....my kind of reel .
Looks like you did great.

Quote from: raumati01 on April 27, 2014, 08:41:28 AM
Nice score, I've been tempted by those 2 speeds a few times but never bought one, be interested to see what you think when you use it.

I know what they are like to use. I had a 9000c back in the early eighties.

Quote from: Alto Mare on April 27, 2014, 11:57:55 AM
Nice reel Basto, It appears that one doesn't come with a levelwind....my kind of reel .
Looks like you did great.

Hi Sal
Yes, I got a bargain.I have always liked ABU for the materials they used in their older reels. I have seen ABUs pulled from creeks that have been there a long time and they clean up surprisingly well with hardly any corrosion.
This one has a different way of keeping the play out of the gear sleeve than the following model.
I will show that when I get my new drag washers.
cheers
Basto 

Great bargain - you don't see the old two speeds in that condition very often and you don't see them in any condition for $50. The shop made a simple mistake, 50 instead of 250, it's easily done
Michael

Quote from: basto on April 27, 2014, 07:24:05 AM
Hi Eric
Got this one for $50.00 AUD. Funny part was ...this shop is usually way over priced. Someone stuffed up.

Whoa! Lucky you bud...     Score!
How does the automatic part of the 2 speed work?
Do you just crank and it drops down a ratio or what?
Is it a predecessor of the Smartshift Tiburon design??
... I have no idea...

Hi Eric
The change down to low gear is activated when the drag reaches a certain level of weight. There are drag washers in both main gears.
Someone like Ken D could explain this better than me, but it is a very simple mechanism, not complicated at all.

A weird thing about this particular reel is that it had about 700mts of what looked and felt like 8 pound mono on it.
Sportfisher??
I will show the insides when my drag washers arrive.
There is a tutorial by BigT in the Ambassadeur section of the 10000cl.  About the only difference on that later model is the gear sleeve and handle nut and the handgrip.
Some of the 2 speeds have black chromed side plates. Mine are aluminium.
Basto

Quote from: mhc on April 28, 2014, 07:51:43 AM
Great bargain - you don't see the old two speeds in that condition very often and you don't see them in any condition for $50. The shop made a simple mistake, 50 instead of 250, it's easily done
Michael

The day I looked at this reel, it had a $59.00 price tag on it. My first impressions were that it must have something wrong inside, because the outside looked good.
Not being able to test it`s gear change operation, I tended to think the worst. That, combined with the knowledge that this shop is usually way over priced, I thought for $50.00 it would be a good source of spares for my 9000C, so that`s what I offered and the guy said yes.
These 2 speeds have an unusual play in the take up of the drive. To the inexperienced, this may seem like an internal problem.
I honestly think many people are turned away from these 2 speeds because of that feature. Having said that, there is nothing wrong with their performance with a good fish on.

Basto

'I thought for $50.00 it would be a good source of spares for my 9000C, so that`s what I offered and the guy said yes.'

If the luck associated with this reel continues onto the water you are going to catch a lot of fish with it!!! 

Eric

Robert Janssen explains the general mechanism of ABU 2 speeds, including the 10000C starting on page 3 of this post about a 2 speed 6500C3 http://alantani.com/index.php?topic=3927.0

Michael

Thanks Michael.. I always enjoy a read from DocJ 

One thing different on this first model was the way ABU kept any play out of the gear sleeve. Following models have a C clip on the top of the gear stud to keep the sleeve on the gear stud.
This 1969 model has a stud that does not reach the top of the sleeve and a window in the sleeve enables a keyed washer with a spring washer underneath that to slip under the lip on the top of the gear stud.
I think this is a great bit of engineering which keeps any play out of the sleeve.

The two nodules under the handle lock the keyed washer in place.
These old 2 speeds are just full of innovative ideas.

Having said that, the two weak points (in my humble opinion) are the post frame and the anti reverse pawl, but that is the vintage of the reel.